The love fest on Monday was certainly no exception. Three days after they were crowned champions of the NHL for the second time in three seasons, the Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles and held an ensuing rally inside a sold-out Staples Center.

Of course, some of the Kings might have hung out together on Monday even if their season ended two months ago.

That type of unity is the same reason they were passing around a 35-pound gleaming silver trophy to the delight of thousands of giddy fans instead of sharing a few laughs in a dive bar in Manhattan Beach, where many of them live.

“You try your hardest and you do your best for the people you care about, the people you love,” Kings right winger and Conn Smythe trophy winner Justin Williams said to the crowd at Staples Center. “I’m privileged and honored to be on this team. Everybody is of equal importance, and that’s the true mark of a team.”

Fittingly, the double-overtime game on Friday that clinched the championship was the longest in franchise history, stretching the Kings’ last moments together this season as long as possible.

Of course, they spent plenty of quality time together courtesy of an NHL-record 26 playoff games this season on the way to becoming the first team to win three Game 7s on the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

A little more than six weeks ago, the Kings found themselves trailing three games to none in their first-round playoff series against San Jose. Becoming the fourth team to ever overcome such a deficit is direct evidence of the chemistry in the locker room, according to team captain Dustin Brown.

“When we look back in 20 years how we had all these comebacks throughout,” Brown said at the Staples Center rally, “all those things are possible because of the relationships we’ve bonded together. When the going gets tough, knowing you have a brother to lean on. I just want to say to all my teammates, I love you guys.”

Brown specifically thanked Dean Lombardi, the Kings president and general manager, for largely holding together a Kings team that won a title in 2012. Seventeen players from the team that captured the Stanley Cup two years ago were members of the Kings this season, a rarity in a sport in which players from championship teams are routinely the first to be poached.

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Seeking an explanation for a playoff run that is in the conversation for the most impressive display of mental fortitude in sports history, the Kings’ uncanny camaraderie seems a natural source.

They have now won their last seven elimination games, capping a three-year run during which they sandwiched championships with an appearance in the Western Conference final.

“All of our guys that love to be Kings ... they’re teaching everyone else what is is to be a King and they’re teaching everyone else around the NHL,” Kings president of business operations Luc Robitaille said. “We’ve said it for the last four years that we’re going to compete for it every year. You don’t know how many cups you can win ... but we know we can do that for the next five, six, seven, eight years. So that’s pretty special.”

How long the Kings can hold together their core remains to be seen, but they have a young nucleus with most of their key players under contract for years to come.

After Lombardi addressed the crowd at Staples Center on Monday, he called Brown and Anze Kopitar, the leading scorer in the playoffs, to the podium.

He asked the duo, “Which ring is your favorite?”

They answered in unison, “The next one.”

Added Brown: “When I’ve talked about my teammates and growing that bond, it’s not something you can do over two months. (Lombardi) is a big reason that we’ve been together for two years now and hundreds of games. He’s the reason that we can hopefully bring more of these home.”

There was, however, one dissenting party in attendance at Staples Center.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter quipped of his team’s togetherness, “They must not love it that much. They could have been playing tonight.”